Underworld: Awakening (3D)

I went into this movie with very low expectations. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of the Underworld series for the most part. I liked the first one, hated Evolution, and loved Rise of the Lycans (mainly due to Michael Sheen, who's a brilliant actor and his character Lucian is probably my favorite in the series). So how was Awakening? Much better than I thought it would be. It's far from great, but it's not nearly as bad as Evolution. I'd say it's better than the first one, but not as good as Rise of the Lycans. I realize these movies are far from great cinema, but they're fun. I like their approach to vampires- that it's a virus. It's also nice to see vampires that don't sparkle lol.

In Awakening, the humans have discovered the exsistance of vampires and lycans and are determined to wipe them all out. Selene (Kate Beckinsale, who looks just the same as she did when the first Underworld was released I beleive 10 years ago) is held captive for 12 years by some science lab. She eventually escapes, but not before putting on her famous tight leather suit. Selene then finds a small group of vampires and she leads a battle against the humans, being totally badass and killing a few lycans across the way. She also finds a girl, Eve, who's a hybrid (which isn't really a spoiler since the trailer mentions it) that escaped the lab as well. As you might've guessed, there's the usual "this girl holds the key to everything" crap that appears far too often in movies. But Eve does get to kick some ass so it wasn't as bad as I thought. That's about all I can tell you as far as the plot.

The budget seems to be bigger for this one. The special effects are pretty good (even the lycans looked scary as hell and not like some guy dressed in a WalMart Halloween costume as in previous movies).

As far as the 3D goes, it was okay. There were a few awesome moments but that's about it. I would say save your money and see it in 2D, but good luck finding a theater that is showing it in that format. I'm not sure how it is anywhere else, but in my area there's only one theater that I know of that is showing the movie in 2D.

Will there be a 5th movie? I think so. The end of Awakening certainly points to it. To be honest, I think they should do one last movie and then be done with it. Who am I kidding though, as long as Kate Beckinsale can fit into that black leather suit, they'll keep making more movies.

My Rating: 6.5/10